Courtesy of Judith Gregg Librarian Catherine Arbogast heads out with a personalized book delivery from the Los Altos main library.

Love of learning and curiosity about the world sometimes grow only more urgent as a person spends more and more time at home, limited by age, health condition, or both. Librarians head out from the Los Altos main l...

Already known as an innovator in the tech field, Google Inc. is now moving in on the art world.

The Mountain View-based company July 11 launched the “Paint the Town” contest, a “moving art experiment” that invites California residents over the age of 13 to submit physical or digital artwork that would decorate the door...

Traci Newell/Town Crier The six-week, tuition-free Stretch to Kindergarten program, hosted at Bullis Charter School, serves children who have not attended preschool. A teacher leads children in singing about the parts of a butterfly, above.

courtesy of Rishi Bommannan Rishi Bommannan cycled from Bates College in Maine to his home in Los Altos Hills, taking several selfies along the way. He also raised nearly $13,000 for the Livestrong Foundation, which supports cancer patients.

The Town Crier’s recent article on coyotes venturing down from the foothills in search of sustenance referenced the organization Project Coyote (“Recent coyote attacks keep residents on edge,” July 1). Do not waste your time contac...

Photos by Alicia Castro/Town Crier Local residents participate in an exercise class at the Grant Park Senior Center, above. Betsy Reeves, below left with Gail Enenstein, lobbied for senior programming in south Los Altos.

Grace Wilson Franks, our beloved mother and grandmother, left us peacefully on July 16, 2015 just a few weeks short of her 92nd birthday. She was born to Ross and Florence (Cruzan) Wilson in rural Tulare, California on Septem...

Most of us have a place inside our hearts and minds that occasionally causes us trouble. For some, it is sadness, depression or despair. For others, it may be fear, anger, resentment or myriad other emotional “dark places” that at times seem to hij...

After four years without raises, Los Altos School District teachers are getting a bump in pay.

Los Altos School District Superintendent Jeff Baier, who presented specifics of the tentative bargaining agreement with the Los Altos Teachers Association at last week’s board meeting, said this is an appropriate time to reward the teachers. He noted that the district is in better financial standing than it was the last four years.

“They have given up some health benefits and absorbed some cuts during that time,” Baier said of the teachers.

There are three parts to the salary increase. The first is a 1.75 percent raise, which adds approximately $350,000 to district expenses annually. The second is a one-time 1.25 percent bonus for the 2012-2013 school year, adding approximately $250,000. The third portion is based on property tax collection. If the collection of property taxes for the 2012-2013 school year, finalized in August, is more than 5 percent, the teachers will receive more than half of that overage as a one-time bonus. As of last week, property tax growth was estimated at 6.12 percent.

Randy Kenyon, assistant superintendent for business services, said the raises would be paid out of property tax collections and reserve funds. The agreement is retroactive and begins with the teacher’s salary at the start of the 2012-2013 school year. The contract runs through the 2014-2015 school year.

The district and the teacher’s association have been through an interest-based bargaining process for the duration of the school year, hammering out the specifics of an offer that includes new language limiting salary advancement for teachers who do not receive a satisfactory performance evaluation.

“The idea that we agree on new language limiting salary advancement – that is really a nod from our teachers that they want excellence in our classrooms,” Baier said. “Our teachers would agree, if a teacher isn’t performing satisfactorily, they shouldn’t get an increase in pay.”

The district board is scheduled to vote on the contract at Monday’s board meeting. isn’t performing satisfactorily they shouldn’t get an increase in pay.”

The district board is scheduled to vote on the contract at Monday’s board meeting.

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